


you can always find me

by BeesKnees



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Anal Sex, Arguably past romantic (but not sexual) Leon/Claire, Background Jill/Carlos, Background mention of Albert Wesker, Background mention of Helena Harper, Background mention of Jack Krauser, Dad figure!Chris Redfield, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Grief/Mourning, Leon: I've only Drifted with Piers Nivans one time but if anything were to happen to him, Loss, Loss of Limbs, Multi, Pacific Rim AU, Recovery, Soft sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:34:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24413683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeesKnees/pseuds/BeesKnees
Summary: Piers Nivans is the young, rockstar Jaeger pilot of the Rebel Prospect. When he loses his partner and his arm in a BOW attack, Chris Redfield sets to work finding him a new co-pilot: he picks Leon Kennedy, a has-been who's been declared Drift incompatible.
Relationships: Leon S. Kennedy/Piers Nivans
Comments: 25
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've tried to make this fic as friendly as possible to those who haven't seen Pacific Rim. Terms that are useful to know heading in:
> 
> \- Jaeger: huge robots made for fighting that require two human pilots to operate
> 
> \- Drift: a mind meld that requires the pilots to share their memories, instinct, and emotions. Pilots have to be able to Drift together to operate a Jaeger
> 
> Feel free to hit me with anything that's unclear so I can clarify.

It's after 3 in the morning when Chris finds him on top of the wall. Most of the guys don't like working this late. There's something about scanning endless dark horizon for the shambling of the undead that'll start to play tricks on you. 

Leon doesn't mind. He doesn't need daylight for added bravado. His willingness to work an unwanted shift could have made him friends here. But Leon keeps to himself still, and the rest of the men view him as aloof and distant, perhaps even a little creepy.

They all know he was a Jaegar pilot. 

Which has to be the reason why Chris Redfield is here. Leon hasn't seen or heard from him in years now.

“Christ it's cold up here,” Chris says, standing right behind him without actually greeting him – he doesn't need to. Leon has known that Chris is here since he spotted the chopper.

He's quiet for a moment, scanning past the edge of the coastal wall. This is one of the first sections built, so humans had been evacuated inside it long ago, and the surrounding area already seems flush with wilderness. The wall had been built to keep out the ocean-bred massive BOWs that can only be fought with Jaegers, but there's still need to keep an eye out for the mundane BOWs. Which is what brought Leon here after his failed stint as a pilot. He's a good shot and at least he can do something.

They had gotten good at fighting zombies fast. They learned how to deal with Tyrants and Lickers and the other beasts that Umbrella had thrown at them. So, Umbrella had just kept upping the ante until they finally found something that was hell to beat: HAOS. An enormous virus-carrying BOW that had to be contained in massive underwater labs during its incubation phase. They crawl out of the oceans and act like wrathful gods, destroying as much as they can while spreading infection as well. 

They'd needed a new weapon for that fight: Jaegers. Enormous robot-like machines that required two pilots to operate. But good pilots were rare, and even then, they had to be Drift compatible with one another – to share a melded mental space that allow them to control the Jaeger. It was the latter part that had forced Leon out of the program.

“Why are you here?” Leon asks. He doesn't like that Chris makes him ask.

“I want you to come back and be a pilot,” Chris says, and Leon at least appreciates that Chris is straightforward.

“No,” Leon says. He's spent enough time regretting his Jaeger career.

“You don't even know why I'm asking,” Chris says.

“I don't care,” Leon says. He remains focused on his rifle and doesn't look up at Chris.

“Did you see the news about the Jaeger in China last week?” Chris asks. Leon rolls his eyes. Somehow, he had forgotten the extent of just how stubborn Chris Redfield can be. He doesn't answer, but Chris is undeterred. 

“That was the Nivans brothers piloting,” Chris continues. That name nags at Leon but he doesn't know why. “The younger one, Connery, was pulled out when the BOW breached the hull. Killed while still connected to his brother. He was only 21.” 

Leon can't help but flinch at the notion of being connected to someone while they were dying. If anything, Chris is affirming his decision on not returning.

“Piers, the older brother, lost an arm on top of that,” Chris says. He pauses, as if the moment should hold meaning.

“All right?” Leon asks, finally giving in and looking up at Chris.

“He's not done fighting yet,” Chris says, voice low and belying how much he cares. “I know he can get back in a Jaeger.”

“Again: all right?”

“Leon, he's going to be Drift compatible with so few people now,” Chris says. “Taking that amount of trauma and grief into the Drift? Who's going to be able handle that? But I'm telling you, it's a goddamn waste if he doesn't get to keep fighting.”

Leon clenches his teeth, finally getting Chris' point. Leon had been an early Jaeger pilot – Mach 2 – stepping in just after the original STARs team that had piloted the Mach 1s. He and Claire Redfield had accidentally wound up in a Jaeger together in an emergency no one had expected. Neither of them were trained for what they were going through, and, yet, they had made it. 

But Claire had decided that fighting in the Jaeger program wasn't for her while Leon had remained. He had never found anyone he was more Drift compatible with than Claire. But he was young at that point, a kind of wunderkind who had the rare skill of having piloted before. 

He had become the right-hand pilot of the Echo Assassin. And from there, gone through a slew of co-pilots. The one that had fucked him up the most was Jack Krauser, who had been a phenomenal pilot coming out of Germany. Leon had thought he'd found his partner then. But after Jack had gotten injured, he'd left the Jaeger program and ended up on the wrong side of things. It was a stunning betrayal for Leon, who had shared a mind with the man for an entire year and had never picked up that this was possible.

By the time Helena Harper stepped into the cockpit of the Echo Assassin, Leon was perhaps more skilled than anyone at piloting a Jaeger, but the level of emotion he brought into the Drift was too much for nearly anyone – a toxic miasma that detracted from the mission. Helena and he had run a single yet vital mission together, and when they were finished, she'd confessed that Leon's grief compounded hers too much. She had realized that she couldn't pilot because her own emotions were too much. 

Command had been selective in trying to find a new co-pilot for Leon after that, and they simply couldn't find anyone. Just like that, he was done. He was out. A brilliant fighter but utterly worthless in any way that mattered.

“Why don't _you_ Drift with him then?” Leon throws back. Everyone has heard what a superb fighter Chris had been. He and Jill Valentine had piloted the first of the Jaegers – the Reckless Fury. 

“I can't,” Chris answers, making it sound so simple. Leon is about to snap at Chris for being so willing to put others on the line when he and Jill are so comfortable running things now. 

But before he can, Chris keeps talking.

“You know Albert Wesker helped build the Mach 1s,” Chris says, and Leon nods. They all know that. No one had thought to ask why Wesker wouldn't try Drifting with anyone until it was too late. The tech was developed, Wesker betrayed them, and tried to take it all for himself instead of using it to fight the BOWs.

Chris looks off into the distance, and something like pain shudders across his face, hidden in the lines.

“Wesker bugged the Reckless Fury before he left,” Chris says. “We didn't know. It knocked Jill and me out of alignment while we were fighting and when it did that, it snapped our ability to make neural connection with other people or the Jaegers. It's all just useless metal and code to us now.” Chris scoffs and then amends, “Or we're useless flesh to it. Depending on how you look at it.”

“I'm sorry,” Leon says, honestly stunned. “I didn't know.”

“We didn't want people to know,” Chris says. “We didn't want people to be afraid to get in the Jaegers. We know that can't happen again. And we didn't want to encourage anybody to try and do it again.”

Leon does feel a little bad for his slight now: Chris' meaning in the story is clear. If he could Drift with the older Nivans brother, he would do so. In a moment. Without hesitation. The best he can do now is try and find a suitable replacement.

“Wait,” Leon says, brow furrowing. “Nivans. Are those the boys you--?”

“Yes,” Chris says quietly. 

“Shit, I'm sorry,” Leon says. They all knew the story. It was so good that it almost sounded like propaganda. Chris and Jill had finished their first run with their Jaeger, defeating a BOW that had been leveling Seattle and likely would have just worked its way down the West Coast. When Chris had stepped out of the Jaeger, there had been two young boys nearly next to the BOW corpse. If the Reckless Fury had been even seconds later in its arrival, the boys would have been killed. They had gotten lost from their parents in the turmoil. 

It took weeks for the Nivans parents to be confirmed among the dead. By then, Piers and Connery had already grown attached to Chris, and Chris to them. Chris took them in. He raised them.

And now, Leon thought, Chris had watched them rise to the rare heights of being Jaeger pilots only to lose one of them. 

For the first time, Leon hesitates.

“Will you just come to Hong Kong and test to see if you're Drift compatible with him?” Chris asks. “If you're not, then it's all over anyway. And if you are … you can make your decision then. At least meet him.”

Leon looks at the barren land in front of him. He remembers that sour feeling in his stomach when he'd been discharged – incompatible. He'd never felt so useless in his life. He'd given everything he'd had to fighting BOWs, and the fight had taken it. 

“All right,” Leon agrees.

“Thank you, Leon,” Chris says, clapping him on the shoulder.

…

Leon spends the next few weeks doubting himself. He watches records of all the Nivans' fights in Rebel Prospect. They fight like naturals, the first of their kind to grow up thinking of being Jaeger pilots. At first, Leon thinks this is a mistake. The kid's got a sort of talent that Leon can't possibly match anymore.

But when he's awake on the wall, the cold biting him, he remembers what it's like to have that talent and then be told it's worthless because you're Drift incompatible. It's the most lonely feeling in the world – lonelier than swaying a top a dark wall at the edge of the wilderness in the middle of the night.


	2. Chapter 2

Carlos Oliveira picks Leon up when he arrives in Hong Kong by blowing the Jeep's horn repeatedly and waving his hand frantically. 

“Oh, Jesus,” Leon mutters to himself, but some part of him is glad to see Carlos again. He's one of the longest-running Jaeger pilots there is. He arrived to the program shortly after Leon. And while he's Drift compatible with nearly everyone as far as Leon can tell, he's served with the same guy in the Ironclad Mercenary. 

As Leon ducks into the car, he can't help but think about what Chris told him. Jill Valentine and Carlos had gotten married pretty shortly after Carlos had joined the program – much to the despair of everyone who had been trying to get into Carlos' pants. But Carlos had only ever had eyes for Jill. 

Everyone had expected that Jill would take over as the co-pilot of the Ironclad, and when the idea was never brought forth, there was a lot of speculation about their marriage – that they maybe weren't Drift compatible and their relationship wasn't as solid as it seemed. 

Leon had never paid serious mind to any of that. But now that he knows that Jill can't Drift, he can't help but feel a little bad for them. To bear all that scrutiny – unflinchingly in Jill's case, and with good humor in Carlos' case.

“What's up, Echo?” Carlos says brightly, holding out a fist to be bumped. From nearly anyone else, Leon would take offense at the offhand use of his call sign. But he knows Carlos means well. Carlos will never be able to really understand what Leon went through when he was declared Drift incompatible, but he knows that Carlos still cares. Echo and Ironclad ran so many missions together at first.

“Hey, Carlos,” Leon says, not denying Carlos the fist bump. 

“Man, I can't believe Redfield got you back out here,” Carlos says, shaking his head in wonder – as if it was Leon's choice to leave in the first place. 

“Well, we'll see for how long,” Leon hedges.

“Nah,” Carlos says with the confidence. “You and the kid will be great together.”

Leon is a little uncertain what to do with such brazen honesty in the face of something so personal – Carlos makes it sound so simple. As if Leon hadn't already been dismissed from the program once, and as if Piers, even if they're Drift compatible, doesn't have a hell of a physical and mental recovery. Leon doubts he's ever Drifted with anyone but his brother. 

“Does he really want to get back in a Jaeger?” Leon asks. 

“Oh, hell yeah,” Carlos says. “I've never seen as anyone geared up _and_ as skilled as Piers Nivans.” 

“He just lost his brother,” Leon points out.

Grief crosses over Carlos' face clearly. He never hides anything. Leon has watched in wonder as Carlos has remained unchanging and open and friendly throughout everything he's seen. Anyone on the streets of Hong Kong right now could see the amount that Carlos cared for Connerly Nivans.

“Yeah,” Carlos says, low. “But he would have been back in Rebel the next day if they had let him. Keeping the fight up is how he's going to honor his brother. I can tell you that if Piers doesn't get back in that Jaeger, he's going to feel like his brother died for nothing.”

Leon doesn't say anything else. He lets Carlos changes the subject and chatter about people they worked with and what day-to-day life is like now. 

…

Carlos takes him to the Shatterdome base that holds the majority of the Jaegers. Leon has only been here once before – during his training. He'd been housed at the North American branch base after that. 

So, he needs Carlos to guide him through the cavernous building, which is chock-full of people who do everything from maintenance and building of the Jaegers to studying the BOWs they beat. It's grown tremendously since Leon was last here.

Carlos takes him to the medic bay, which is far more quiet, and that's where Chris meets him. Carlos shoots Chris a somewhat lax salute and then leaves Leon in his care with a slap on the back.

“Good to have you back,” he says.

“Come on,” Chris says, leading Leon into the room in front of them. “He's here.”

Leon isn't sure what to expect beyond the door, but when they enter Piers is just finishing up a physical therapy sensation, his face grit with pure determination. His left arm is the one he lost, and the residual limb has to _just_ be getting to a better place of healing. Leon can scarcely believe he's going back into a Jaeger soon.

Piers' face lights up the moment he sees Chris. 

“He's doing great,” the physical therapist reports to Chris. 

“I wouldn't expect anything less,” Chris says, and there's no denying the touch of softness in his voice. 

“I'm going to be able to beat you at one-armed push-ups soon,” Piers boasts, and Chris barks a laugh.

“You didn't have to lose a limb to prove that,” Chris answers. 

Leon's not sure what to make of this – if the banter is natural or if it's a mask to hide the fact that they both have to be mourning Connerly and the Piers that could have been. Maybe a little bit of both? He looks between the two of them and feels a little awkward.

“Piers,” Chris says after a moment, taking a step back. “This is Leon Kennedy, former pilot of the Echo Assassin. I've brought him here to test Drift compatibility with you.” 

Piers steps forward and holds out his hand, which Leon accepts. 

“Nice to meet you, sir,” Piers says. “I've reviewed all of your data. You did amazing things with that Mach 2.” 

“Leon, please,” Leon says, the only thing he can think to say. He suddenly just can't believe that this is the same kid that Chris thinks is going to be deemed Drift incompatible with any viable candidates. 

“I'm sorry for what you're going through,” he tacks on a little awkwardly. Piers' smile dims only a tad, but he nods simply as if in thanks. 

“We'll go get the initial testing phase done then,” Chris says. “And be back down with the results, Piers.”

“Thank you,” Piers says. 

Chris moves to leave the room, but Leon lingers.

“Can you give me a minute, Chris?” Leon asks, his gaze still locked on Piers.

Chris pauses, but only for a moment, and then says, “Sure.” 

“You're sure this is what you want?” Leon asks Piers, who is carefully setting himself down on the edge of the bed. Piers looks up at Leon as if examining him.

“What do you mean by 'this?'” he asks. 

“Getting back in a Jaeger at all,” Leon says. “Trying to get into a Jaeger with me. If you've seen the program's data on me, you know I haven't had partners that lasted and my latter ones said I was difficult to Drift with.”

“I do know that,” Piers says, and he's serious now. “But Chris Redfield has never steered me wrong. And he knows me. So, yes, I am sure. About getting back in a Jaeger and trying to Drift with you.” He pauses and then tilts his head a little. “Why are you so sure that I need to be worried about what's in your head? Mine seems a little fresher, don't you think?” He gestures toward his now-gone arm.

“Trauma doesn't tend to be a competition,” Leon points out with a raised eyebrow.

“No,” Piers agrees. “Ours is going to have to be a conversation.” He studies Leon unflinchingly. Leon feels almost intimidated by it – especially on the face of someone so much younger than him.

“What do you think you've seen that would scare me compared to what I've been through?” Piers asks. It's a question done in all sincerity, and Leon isn't exactly ready for it. This was just how it was when you Drifted with someone. He had forgotten that – and not at all.

When Leon doesn't answer, Piers reassures him: “I'm not afraid. Not as long as I can fight.”

Piers is offering him so much here, and Leon wishes he had something insightful or at least clever to say in response. Instead, he's near paralyzed by fear by how open this kid can be while still suffering. 

“I'll go take the test,” Leon says, praying that the numbers just won't work so that he doesn't have to personally let everyone down.

…

The numbers come back good. On paper, he and Piers Nivans have Drift compatibility.

…

“I'm worried this is a mistake,” Leon still protests. He doesn't like being told that he might be Piers' last hope. It's too much responsible. He doesn't even really know the kid.

“I think you should give him more time to find a new co-pilot,” Leon says. “He seems like he's in good shape with his recovery. I don't think it's going to be that hard to find someone for him to Drift with.”

“Leon,” Chris says. “C'mere.” He beckons him over to his workstation and flips files out in front of him. 

“You've made me pull out the science and try to explain it. Congratulations,” Chris says. “These are the graphs we get from running the preliminary Drift tests. They measure all sorts of shit that I can't even begin to take into account, physical and emotional. Your reflexes, fluidity of motion, degree of motion. Paired with rankings on your ability to focus when in the Drift, and how much you bring in with you – and if you do bring in a lot, ranking what those emotions and memories are comprised of. Joy, sorrow, fear – you get the idea.”

He slides the first file over. It's Leon's. 

“This was when you came on board with the Jaeger program,” Chris says. “You were really stable in all areas. An ideal candidate.” He flips through pages, and Leon watches as his physicality scores soar. As well as the amount of what he's bringing into the Drift. Even his connectivity levels with the Jaeger itself wilt a little.

“This is our usual cut-off line for the amount we consider safe for people bringing their shit into the Drift,” Chris says. He traces an imaginary line with his finger, well above where Leon's emotional score ranks. 

Chris flips through a few of the other pilots' charts, giving Leon a chance to see what an average one looks like. 

“This is Piers when he came into the program,” Chris says. His physical scores, unsurprisingly are off the charts, and his emotional burden is almost nothing.

“This is what he looks like after testing last week,” Chris says. The new chart shows a drastic change in the emotional score, highlighting Piers' anger, grief, and impulsivity. He's flirting with the cut-off line. No other current pilot is anywhere near that line. 

“None of us can force you to stay and pilot if you don't want to,” Chris says. “We all know Drifting doesn't work like that. But, as your friend and not your superior officer: get your head out of your ass and help him.”

Leon looks back at his own chart and wonders where his emotional burden score would have stopped had he a co-pilot to rely on. Someone to share that emotional burden, the way they were supposed to.

“Yeah,” Leon says. “All right.”

…

The very next day he's suited up and inside the Rebel Prospect. He can't help but be impressed. The Rebel is a Mach 5 Jaeger, sleek and new as they come. Without the display, though, it feels strangely empty. It looks simply like metal piping instead of the bustling heart and mind of the most powerful weapon mankind has ever created.

“ _Second pilot onboard,”_ the AI chimes overhead, and Leon turns to look as Piers walks in. His suit has been adapted for his missing arm. 

“I guess I'm right side,” Piers says. It's supposed to be a joke, Leon realizes. 

“How are you going to manage in the harness?” Leon asks, glancing from the pilot station back to Piers. He doesn't mean to be indelicate, but he's never see a Jaeger pilot missing a limb before.

“They're restructuring the harness for me,” Piers says. “And we've been working on some exercises to strengthen my neural transmissions for the left side of my body to compensate for what I won't be able to do physically.” He pauses. “Does that worry you?”

“No,” Leon answers, and it's the truth. Piers doesn't seem like the sort of guy who would climb in a Jaeger unless he truly believed he could handle himself. 

“They're still wrapping up the repairs on Rebel,” Piers says, speaking with fondness for the Jaeger. Leon understands that. They become both a third person and a home. “But they should be ready by the time we're ready to take her out,” Piers says. 

Leon nods. Today, they're just doing a neural handshake – an actual attempt for him and Piers to Drift and control the Jaeger together. They won't be doing anything close to fighting today. It'll be about seeing if they can get into alignment and stay there to do the most simple of tasks with the Jaeger.

“I'm still not sure this is a good idea,” Leon warns, because there's no point in hiding it. If things work, Piers is going to feel that uncertainty within minutes.

Piers, with an amount of intensity that shouldn't be possibly, says, “Trust me. Trust us. We have so many people who are here for us to succeed, and we have so many people to protect.”

Jesus.

Central command crackles to life in their helmets.

“Initiating trial run of Rebel Prospect at 0800 commencing. Marshals Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine arriving at command center. Secure pilots.”

The crew steps in to help them. Despite everything – the time, the heartache – Leon's body still remembers this and he steps into place without hesitation or problem. On the right side, things progress a little more slowly as the crew tries to get Piers comfortably and safely hooked in. Piers provides them easy feedback for modifying the harness. 

Once everyone has stepped away though, and it's just Leon in his harness and helmet, he feels his nerves pick up, churning sickeningly in his stomach. He's done this before, he reminds himself. It's nothing new. 

“Initiating neural handshake in 3 … 2 … 1,” the AI says.

Leon feels that familiar pinch at his mind and then the surge: _He's ripping open his acceptance letter to the police academy, glowing with happiness, racing inside to show it off –_

_he's inside the yet unnamed Jaeger that would become the Echo Assassin. Claire is beside him, holding the helmet, pure determination on her face. “We have to give this a try,” Claire says. “I'm not afraid. I'm in if you're in Leon, all right? What's the worst –_

_he's finishing up their fifth successful run, glowing with relief and pride and the rush of victory. He can feel the same emanating out of Krauser, that underneath that hard-ass persona, he cares for Leon deeply. “Good work, Boy Scout. Let's –_

_he's drowning in Helena's grief for her sister –_

_he and Helena are finishing their mission and instead of victory, she's already awash with doubt, pulling away from Leon, shamed by her fear of letting their emotions continue to mingle. They're close to going out of alignment. “If I could,” she says_

He feels Piers' memories like a shadow whisper: the joy of seeing a baby brother in the hospital, the fierce determination as they'd wandered the streets of Seattle while a BOW brought the apocalypse behind them, celebrating Chris' birthday, joy at finding out he and Connerly were Drift compatible –

Piers presses at the corner of his mind, like a knock at the door. Leon already knows it shouldn't feel this way. The door should just be open. Piers shouldn't have to ask for entrance. Leon tries to calm himself, tries to bring down whatever barrier he's put. 

_Claire hugging him tightly after they finished, both of them bruised and battered, but full of a love for each other that Leon hadn't known he wouldn't ever feel again. She clings--_

_the shock of seeing Krauser alongside Wesker, and Krauser had looked him dead in the eye like they hadn't existed as one entity for –_

Piers presses again, gentler. He's trying to be reassuring, and he's like a warm rain against Leon's turbulent mental state and--

“Fuck this,” Leon says, grabbing off his helmet. He gasps out a breath, centering back into himself. No more onslaught of his own memories and emotions. No more Piers. 

He had known this was a mistake. He knew he couldn't do this.

He pulls himself out of the harness without waiting for the crew to come and get him and walks out of the Rebel Prospect without waiting to be dismissed. No one stops him.


	3. Chapter 3

He hightails it back to his room, packs his shit, and waits for Chris. He knows that Redfield will be over soon to try and cajole him into trying again. Leon won't. He kept his end of the bargain. He did the test, he met the kid. They couldn't Drift because Leon is still Drift incompatible. He's broken.

When the knock comes, Leon flings the door open, knapsack already on his back.

“Get me out of here,” he says before actually looking to see who it is.

It's not Chris. 

It's Piers.

“I'm afraid I don't have that kind of authority,” Piers answers. Leon groans.

“Listen,” Leon says, on the defense immediately. “I warned you that I didn't think it would work. It didn't. I can't help you, all right? You'll find someone else to Drift with.”

“I had an idea,” Piers says as if he hasn't heard anything Leon just said. “Would you just try it? For me, please. And if you still want to go then, I won't ask anything else of you.”

Leon scoffs. 

“I've heard that a lot lately,” Leon answers.

“Come on,” Piers says seriously. “Some part of you wants to be here. Wants to Drift with me. So let me work with that bit.” He points at Leon's chest. “There's hope somewhere in there even if you're afraid to acknowledge it.”

It raises Leon's proverbial hackles to have someone who's practically a stranger talk to him like this. He would tolerate this maybe from Chris Redfield. He doesn't know Piers. He doesn't owe Piers a goddamn thing, and Piers doesn't actually know him despite how much he might have studied him and despite the fact that they're Drift compatible in theory alone. Piers has no reason to be this committed to him already. Why is he being so persistent? 

“Talk to Chris if you want to leave,” Piers says. “Otherwise, I'll see you in the Rebel at 2100.” 

He heads off without saying else, leaving Leon with his irritation. 

…

And he still shows up at the Rebel at 2100. Part of him is curious exactly what Piers is thinking. But part of him also shows up because, despite Leon's frustration, Piers has seen him so clearly every time they've interacted. It's not much, but he's just been able to cut to the core of Leon's issues despite barely knowing him. It helps that Piers reminds him of Chris, who is one of the few people Leon trusts. 

When he enters the Rebel, he can hear two people chatting. One of them, of course, is Piers.

The other is Claire Redfield.

She springs up when she sees Leon, wrapping her arms tightly around him. It takes Leon a moment to wrap his arms back around her, softening a little. He can't remember the last time he was hugged. It's been so long since he's seen Claire.

“Leon,” Claire says, smiling into his shoulder. “I've missed you.”

“Hey Claire,” Leon says quietly. He looks over her shoulder to see Piers watching them with a light smile. 

“Why are you here?” Leon asks, pulling back to look her in the face.

“We're going to Drift,” she says confidently, taking one of his hands into hers. “Heard you're out of practice and need to knock down some mental walls.” 

Leon looks between the two of them. It's true that Claire has always been the person who was easiest for Leon to Drift with. If she had stayed, he would have happily piloted with her for the rest of his time in the program. Piers is right: it does give him hope. But it also scares him a little. What if he's so broken, so far gone, that he can't even Drift with Claire? 

Claire holds a hand to Piers and takes a helmet, sticking it on Leon's head.

“Let's do this thing, Kennedy,” she says. She pops her own helmet on. 

It isn't the worst plan. And if he can't Drift with Claire, he knows it's truly over. Neither Chris nor Piers will argue with him then. Leon and Claire get into the harnesses – Claire with a little help from Piers.

“Jesus,” she says. “This is so slick compared to what we got into.”

“Hey,” Leon says. “The Echo Assassin wasn't even finished yet. Leave her alone.” 

Claire snorts.

“Yeah, I seem to remember _your_ side having more of its external plating finished than mine,” Claire parries. 

“Excuses,” Leon says. Their banter leaves less space for his worry. That only comes back when he hears the countdown for the neural handshake.

He's sucked into a montage of his memories again, flowing through him. He can hear Claire's memories clearly as well, but it only takes him a few seconds to realize that Claire is still on the outside of his. She presses, her presence not unlike Piers' earlier – steadfast, certain, gentle. 

Leon breathes and tries to relax. He trusts Claire. He loves Claire. He has no secrets from Claire. 

And still the wall is there. He can't think his way through this – this isn't a matter of logic. This is matter of the heart.

“Leon,” Claire says, gently and out loud. “It's just me. I've seen it all. I know it. I was there for it. You came and stayed with me after Jack. I was the one who drove you up to the wall. I know you're not who you were when you were 21, because I'm not who I was then either. I've been hurt, too, and I've hated a lot of people since then too. 

“But you know what? Fuck all those people, because they don't matter to me. What matters to me is when we Drifted then and we didn't even know each other, but you just trusted me so much. We just knew each was a good person, and I could feel how in awe of me you were and how much you loved me.”

He did. He loved her so much that day. And he had been awash in that return of emotion from her, both of them thrilled by what they were doing and that they were doing it with the other. 

“I can't lose that again,” Leon admits, voice thick.

“You're losing it by not letting it happen, Leon,” Claire says, stalwart as ever. “You're skipping straight to the hurt.”

Leon doesn't have the words to answer her, but it doesn't matter. She punctures through his fear. Jack and Helena did hurt, but since then, there's but nothing _but_ the hurt. He's tired of it. He's tired of being alone and broken. 

Claire's suddenly in his mind, curled around him. Without needing words, she tells him that she still loves him, has always loved him. That love is simply more encompassing with more depth now. They might have only Drifted once, but they've always been family. 

_It's not gone. You're not gone._

The Rebel Prospect comes to life around them, and Claire pokes curiously. 

It's strange to feel the ways she's changed since she was 19. He's always felt that everyone else has worn their aging and burden and trauma better than he does. But he can feel the fissures in Claire's soul from where she's been hurt too. It's her determination that brings her back time and time again – in spite of the hurt. Because she still has that fire raging inside of her. He feels the pure confidence and protectiveness she feels for both him – and Piers, perhaps, in equal measure.

They flow through the memory of Chris first bringing Piers and Connerly to meet Claire. Connerly, ever the shier one, hiding behind Piers, who had been confident in his introduction to Claire, already certain that they were going to be family. And he had been right, and Claire had instantly loved him for that. 

_I love you._

_I know._

…

Leon feels unsteady when they break their connection, scraped raw. Claire comes over and takes his helmet back off. She kisses his cheek, smiling warmly at him. 

“I'm gonna go bug Chris,” she says. “Go get drinks with Piers.” He nods, because he's not sure there's anything he wouldn't do for Claire in that moment.

Claire turns and smiles at Piers as well.

“Take care of him,” she says, and Piers just nods as if that was his plan all along. 

When she's gone, Piers moves across the cockpit and toward Leon.

“Do you really want to go out?” Piers asks. “We don't have to. But I do know some good food spots off base and they haven't let me out of here since I got injured.”

“No, let's go,” Leon agrees. He feels like Claire has focused his vision of Piers – so many of his traits that he could already see but that he's able to appreciate now. Piers might not be a Redfield by blood, but he has their stubbornness, their innate sense of right and wrong, that same intensity for care that can seem almost brutal at times. That implicit need to fight for justice even when it's hard and maybe especially when it's hard.

For the first time, Leon can see why so many other people were sure that they would be able to Drift together. 

Piers grins and takes his hand and leads him out of the Rebel. He waits while Leon gets changed back into street clothes and then they head to the garage where Piers signs out one of the Jeeps.

“Are you allowed to just leave?” Leon asks. Piers shrugs wryly. 

“And here, I thought you were a rule follower,” Leon says.

“I _do_ pilot a Jaeger called the Rebel Prospect,” Piers parries. “Besides, you know well enough that anybody piloting a Jaeger has to know when to bend the rules.”

“Fair enough,” Leon answers. “You need me to drive?”

“I'm going to pretend you didn't just ask me that,” Piers says as he gets into the driver's side.

As they head out into the city, Leon can tell that Piers likes to drive. He also suspects that if they had just open space, Piers could open up on this Jeep and make it sing. 

After having spent so long on the wall, Hong Kong is a cacophony of neon, noises, and smells. He never thought he was one for being packed into a place with so many people – especially after seeing zombie uprisings – but at this time of night, there's something almost surreal about the whole thing. Maybe it's in part because he feels softer after having Drifted by Claire.

Piers takes them to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant where the owner gasps when she sees him. She rushes to hug him at first, excited to see him and then almost immediately crying. She and Piers talk in Mandarin, which Leon doesn't know, catching only the occasional odd word – Jaeger. BOW. Connerly. Her hand skims over the empty sleeve of Piers' shirt. 

Leon stands respectfully back, giving them time, but after a few moments, Piers angles his body so he can introduce Leon. The woman appraises him and seems – satisfied? She nods and then heads back toward the kitchen.

“Come on,” Piers says, nodding toward a table with a pair of seats. “I asked her to bring out whatever she thought was good for today.” 

“Do you know her well?” Leon asks as two beers are placed in front of them.

“She knows all the Jaeger pilots,” Piers says. Leon remembers that. He'd frequently been recognized in San Diego when he was a pilot. It was a kind of fame that he never knew what to do with. 

They sit in silence for a moment, and Leon wonders when and if he's supposed to bring up Piers' brother. He had handled the moment with grace with the restaurant owner – that's all Leon has seen, Piers adamant on his recovery and getting back into the Jaeger. And yet, he's seen Piers' Drift results, heard what Chris has said – he has too much grief to get back into the Rebel with just anyone. But Piers has never offered him any opening for that conversation, and Leon isn't good at knowing how to bring it up. Not yet.

Their food arrives and Piers thanks the woman with a smile before they dig in.

“You know,” Piers says in between bites. “We met before.”

“Oh?” Leon asks, pausing. He can't even begin to guess when this could have been.

“Yeah,” Piers says. “There was an awards ceremony in New York City where Chris handed everything out. We came with him.”

Leon remembers that, vaguely. He and Jack had been early into their stint together, and, at the time, the whole thing had felt like dumb pageantry. The BSAA was always looking for ways to keep focus on the success of the Jaeger program to encourage more monetary backing. Sure, there were probably folks who wanted to genuinely thank them, but Leon and Jack hadn't suspected that was the main reason for a moment. But then again, at the time, it didn't seem like that time was ever going to end – it would always be the fighting and the glory. Leon almost misses it now, although he can't imagine willingly going back to when he was piloting with Krauser now knowing how it ended.

“How old were you?” Leon asks. He still doesn't remember Piers in specific.

“Fourteen or 15,” Piers answered. He grins a little, almost self-deprecatingly. “If there had been trading cards about the Jaegers and their pilots, we would have collected them. I swear we knew everything about anything related to the Jaegers then.”

Leon notes the continuous use of the word “we” without ever actually saying his brother's name. He doesn't comment on it yet.

“You've always wanted to be a Jaeger pilot,” Leon surmises. 

Piers' expression turns a little softer and he nods. “Our family was always in the military. And right now there's no better way to protect people than getting inside a Jaeger, is there? I've never been able to imagine myself doing anything else.”

Leon understands this. At the beginning, he couldn't imagine anything else either. Part of him thinks he should warn Piers for that inevitability. It won't last. It can't last.

And part of him thinks that he just needs to help the kid get back into a Jaeger for a little while longer. That maybe he's lost enough for the time being.


	4. Chapter 4

They get back to the Shatterdome late in the night, and Chris has them right back in the Rebel Prospect for a second attempt at a neural handshake at 0800. 

Leon knows that the night before didn't just fix everything, but he's more at ease now. The tremor of nerves isn't that much different than what he would feel before a fight. He holds onto how it felt to Drift with Claire like a salvation. 

Leon can hear his heart beating in his ears. The A.I. counts down and this time, Leon's mind simply gives. He flows into his memories, which are instantly intermingled with Piers', so that, for a moment, Leon forgets where he begins and where Piers ends. 

Unsurprisingly, he feels the same nervousness radiating across their newly forged bond: Piers had been scared that it wasn't going to work this time, that he was going to be left without a co-pilot. Leon suddenly gets it, this dedication to him. It's not wholly rationale. Leon is the odd lifeline that Chris has thrown out to Piers, and Piers simply has been swimming toward him because he feels like the only possibility.

“Holding steady,” Chris' voice pipes into their helmets. “Good work, guys. Let's run some basic tests, all right?”

“All right,” Leon nods, but he can feel Piers' attention starting to drift.

“Piers?” Chris asks, but there's no answer. Leon does the mental equivalent of tapping Piers, but he's starting to feel farther and farther way.

“He's chasing the rabbit,” Chris groans. He's stuck in a memory. It's something that a lot of rookies struggle with when they first get into a Jaeger – letting the memories just go without latching onto one. Likely, no one had expected this to be a problem today. 

“Piers,” Chris says again. “Come back.” 

But Piers is only being drawn further away, so Leon allows himself to go along. He stirs in Piers' memory – and finds himself simply back on the left-hand side of the Rebel Prospect. 

Piers is on the right-hand side, both arms intact, face grit with determination and pain. Rebel is being rocked, and outside the Jaeger is the biggest BOW Leon has ever seen, bar none. It's ripping through the hull of the Rebel like it's made of paper. 

“Pull back!” Piers shouts. 

“I can't!” The boy that answers him is piloting on the left-hand side. Leon can see the resemblance immediately. His face is thinner than Piers', and he looks like he's taller and leaner than his big brother, but there's no doubt this is Connerly Nivans. He has those same sharp eyes and strong jaw.

And Leon knows him in that moment, anyway: knows him as Piers would know him, because he's entwined with Piers' recollection of what happened. They love this boy as if he's their other half, because he is. 

“Piers,” Leon says, walking over toward where Piers is living his brother's death over again. “This is just a memory. Come back with me.”

But Piers is so far gone, he's unaware of Leon. 

The Jaeger is jolted with another blow that they can't avoid with the left side pinned.

“We've got water in the core!” Piers shouts. 

“Just hold on!” Chris barks across the comms. To anyone else, he probably sounds like a gruff officer in charge. Piers and Leon know he's scared, and that scares them too because there are so few instances when Chris Redfield shows fear.

“Ironclad is on its way, Piers,” Chris says. “Less than five minutes out. You just have to hold on five minutes – got it?”

“Yes, sir,” Piers grits out. Their mind is racing, trying to come up with a solution.

“We've got to get that left arm free!” Piers yells finally to Connerly, 

“I'm ready!” Connerly shouts back, bracing himself in the harness. They move as one, bringing the right fist up in a sharp undercut while yanking the left arm out of the BOW's hold. It gives, and they almost lose their balance, taking a step or two back. The BOW recovers mover quickly than they do, moving like quicksilver. Its now-freed hand arches down toward the Rebel. Its fingers drag across the head of the Jaeger, pulling back paneling, the front display screens cracking under the pressure. 

“Piers!” Connerly shouts once more. It's the last thing any of them feel before the hand crushes the left-hand side. One moment Connerly Nivans is there, and the next there's just night air kissing the sparking electronics and crumpled metal. 

Connerly's fear screams through Piers and Leon, inhumane in its depth. It's a kind of a fear not made to survive. It's the experience of death – which should remain unknown to those still alive. But Piers and Leon feel it drag through them, that terrible moment of excruciating pain and distortion, existing between life and death – before the nothingness. The empty ringing of where Connerly should be. 

Piers screams in anguish. His arm is wrenched from his body with the dissolution of the left-hand side of the Jaeger, but the physical pain is nothing. He's only aware of his brother's death and his own grief at his brother's death, the two terribly intermixed and feeding on one another into an endless loop. Piers hangs raggedly in what's left of his harness, sobbing and shouting. Conveying an emotion that goes beyond words.

The memory goes static-y, and Leon thinks it must be because this is where Piers' conscious awareness of what happened ends. 

He waits for Piers to come out of the memory, to rise above his grief.

Instead, the memory just begins over again, Connerly back on the left-hand side, the Jaeger still in full working condition. Piers fighting the same fight.

“Piers,” Leon implores. He steps up in front of him this time, gently tugging the helmet off. “This is just a memory.”

“ _No,_ ” Piers argues – and at least he's acknowledging Leon this time. His eyes shine with angry tears, jaw clenched with stubbornness. “I can fix this. I can do it this time.” He says it again, as if he can make it true. The Rebel jerks around them in the memory. 

“No,” Leon says. “You can't. He's gone.” He says it gently, but it's the simplest of facts. The most devastating of facts. 

Piers looks over at his baby brother and chokes back a sob. Leon presses a hand to Piers' face, trying to draw his attention back.

“It doesn't do him any good to stay here with him, Piers,” Leon says – sentiments that Piers knows, logically, but can't feel right now. “This isn't where he is anymore.” 

Piers breaks down entirely, giving way. They come out of the memory so quickly that Leon is briefly disorientated to open his eyes and find himself back in his own harness and helmet. He pops out of place as quickly as he can and heads over to Piers, who is barely hanging in place, just giving over to his sorrow and continuing to sob. 

“You're okay,” Leon says quietly, getting him out of the harness and lowering him to the floor. He holds Piers the best that he can. “I've got you.” 

Chris appears beside them mere seconds later. He had to have ran as soon as they disconnected. 

“I'm sorry,” Piers begs when he sees Chris. “ _I'm sorry._ ”

Chris doesn't say anything in return, but Leon knows the look on his face: that there is nothing that Piers needs to be forgiven for and Chris doesn't know how to tell and convince Piers of that. 

He kneels down beside them and takes Piers' right arm, pulling it over his shoulders. Leon rises with him, wrapping an arm around Piers' waist to stabilize him on the left side. Piers lets them half carry him back to his quarters, crying the entire way. They don't run into anyone along the way, and Leon wonders just how Chris managed that. 

Piers' anguish is like a clarion call to Leon. He could cry if he let himself. He probably will later, mourning this boy that he doesn't know because he now has a hole the shape of him in his heart. It's a level of grief Leon himself will never really know and here Piers is, 26, trying to carry it on his own.

He's still crying but his breathing has evened by the time they get back to his room. He's still begging Chris for forgiveness.

When they finally stop, Chris lets go of Piers' arm to step in front of him. He takes Piers' face into both of his hands. (The touch is more gentle than anything that Leon has ever seen from Chris, including in Claire's memories. Claire has not yet needed this tenderness from Chris in the way that Piers now does.)

“Piers,” Chris says quietly, and it's enough to finally stop Piers' crying. He closes his eyes and continues to take in shaky breaths.

Leon and Chris get the harder plating off of Piers, leaving him just in his black undersuit. 

“I'm going to get him some water,” Chris says to Leon, and Leon nods.

Leon draws Piers slowly over to the side of his bed and sits him down there. Piers allows himself to be maneuvered without complaint. While Piers sits, Leon finishes discarded the plating from his own Jaeger uniform. 

He sits down on the bed beside Piers, and Piers implicitly leans into him. Leon wraps his arms around Piers immediately. It's nothing he would have dared even hours ago. But he now knows the loneliness that Piers has been carrying around in his head and heart, trying to find anything to fill him back up. 

It's an odd juxtaposition, to be in tune with everything Piers is likely feeling but to know the conversation is still necessary – they don't really know each other yet.

“Everyone's going to give Chris shit for letting me get back into that Jaeger,” Piers says finally, his voice thick.

“So?” Leon asks softly. Piers is quiet, so Leon continues, “It's what he can do to protect you right now. And he knows what you need better than anyone else.” 

“And you don't regret getting into that Jaeger with me?” Piers says – and even though Leon can't feel it, he knows that Piers likely regrets it. That he shared that level of grief with someone else, a memory and emotion that Leon will carry with him for the rest of his own days.

“No,” Leon responds without hesitation. “Took me long enough to get there, didn't it? And for the record, I know you can still do it. Like Chris, I know that this was just something you had to get through first.”

Piers sniffles messily, and Leon thinks he might start crying again, but he doesn't. He breathes in deeply and then exhales. 

“I need to be back in the Rebel,” Piers says, sounding more himself again, determination cutting through the grief. “I need to be able to fight.”

“I know,” Leon answers, because he does. “We'll get there, all right? I'm in. But you don't need to pretend that you can fix Connerly's death with a fight.”

This time, Piers does let out a choked-off noise. 

“It's okay, Piers,” Leon says quietly. He rubs a hand up and down Piers' back. Piers sinks into him and starts crying again, more subdued this time – a release instead of an explosion. 

At some point, they lie down in Piers' bed, and Piers remains tucked close to Leon. He falls asleep with his head on Leon's chest, and Leon stares up at the ceiling. This is what he was afraid of, and this is what he so desperately missed. Drifting is a searing connection, as close a person can mentally and emotionally get to another in Leon's opinion. 

And after being inside Piers' head this morning, he finally gets Chris' point. Leon might not know exactly what to do with Piers' grief, but he also isn't going to shy away from it. Leon's past loss is different than what Piers' is going through now – but it's still loss, and Leon's instinct is to stymie that however he can. To try and protect the connection that Leon and Chris had both so mourned. 

It's been so long since he reached out to another person. Some part of him is still afraid he's going to fuck it up worse. But, for better or worse, he and Piers now have an immutable bond.

Chris was right about everything – about their level of less, need, and compatibility. Chris Redfield was fucking right again. Chris arrives in the room briefly and leaves the glass of water on Piers' bedside table and glances at Leon. They look at each other for a moment. Chris nods. He leaves them to it.

At some point, Leon falls asleep as well, and when he wakes it's late in the day. He feels blurry and mussed, and he can't remember the last time he slept next to another human being. It sours his stomach to realize that it was probably Krauser.

Piers is already awake, sitting up in the bed but not yet moving.

“You okay?” Leon asks, voice rough with sleep. He presses his fingers to Piers' lower back. 

“Yeah,” Piers says, looking down at Leon. He does look much calmer now, although his eyes are a little puffy. 

“Thank you,” he says, not bothering with the apology that would be useless between them now. Leon hums gently in affirmation. 

“I've never,” Piers says suddenly, his tone shifting. He seems to struggle to find his words. “I'd never Drifted with anyone but him – my brother, before. I didn't really realize … how aware of you I was going to be now. Connerly was just always there anyway.” 

Leon isn't sure what to say to that. His first Drift had been with Claire when she was practically a stranger, and Leon had found it to be revelation to so easily pair with another soul. But he gets why it might be uncomfortable for Piers this far into his career.

“Does it bother you?” Leon asks. 

“No,” Piers says, shaking his head and looking down at Leon. “I just feel very … pulled toward you.” God help Leon, Piers' cheeks actually go a little red. 

“That's normal,” Leon tries to reassure him. He almost manages to keep the wry grin off his face. 

“Yeah?” Piers asks, seeming to get back some of the cockiness Leon expects he's usually known for. “You fuck all your co-pilots?” 

Leon snorts out a laugh. And then deadpans: “Well, Claire and I never quite did get around to it.” 

“Gross,” Piers says, pulling a face.

“No, I just mean,” Leon says, trying to pull this conversation back, knowing it's a lost cause, “that amount of emotional and mental intensity? Not weird when it spills over into the physical. Is all I'm saying.” He grins again. “And besides, I felt that crush you had on me when you were 15.”

Piers groans and hides his face in his hand. 

“Is it too late for me to return you?” he asks.

“It is now, yeah,” Leon says. Jesus, he missed this. This level of banter and relaxation with another person. Being around Piers like this makes him feel like he's just remembered how to start breathing again.

Piers removes his hand.

“Can I kiss you then?” Piers asks, bold to a fault in a way that thrills Leon. 

Leon just smiles at him, answer clear even though Leon suddenly feels nervous. His heart thrums in his ears. 

Piers' gaze drops to his lips before he leans in. He just brushes their lips together first, a greeting of sorts. A proclamation that he intends to know Leon in every way that he can.

This connection seems so easy compared to what they've already been through. Leon suspects there could have been the possibility of this even if they hadn't been Drift compatible or ended up Drifting at all. 

He leans into Piers, and they share breath for a moment, looking at one another and plucking at the thrumming connection between them. Piers gives first. He kisses Leon messily, surging forward against him. He grabs a tight handful of Leon's hair at the back, and Leon can feel Piers' center of balance go a little shaky. He presses his hands to Piers' waist to steady him the best that he can. 

They flow together, kissing with increasing hunger. Piers dominates the kiss for the most part, licking into Leon like he can't get enough of the taste of him. His fingers keep scraping against the back of Leon's head, and he can sense that this a moment when Piers is frustrated at the loss of his arm – that he would likely manhandle Leon around a bit more. 

Leon draws back slowly, sinking his teeth into Piers' lower lip as his fingers skate around to the zipper at the back of the matching undersuits they're still wearing. They'll need to stand to get them off entirely, but the two of them still linger on the bed as Leon pulls the zipper down the lean line of Piers' back. He almost immediately traces the same path with his fingertips, just feeling all that smooth skin, the strong muscle underneath. Piers shivers.

Ungracefully, they move off the bed together. They get Piers out of his undersuit first. There's just a touch of shyness when it comes to his residual limb, tucked into a compression sleeve. But mostly there's determination that edges on challenge. It's the energy Piers carries with him in everything, Leon is learning.

Leon can't help but admire him. He doesn't have the words, just yet, to tell Piers how classically and effortlessly beautiful he finds him, but it's a notion that Piers will undoubtedly pick up in the Drift next time. 

Leon turns, giving Piers access to the zipper at the back of his own neck. Barely breathing, Piers pulls it down, the sound almost overwhelming in the otherwise quiet room. Leon can hear the breath that Piers sucks in. He shucks Leon's suit down to his hips and then steps in to mouth a kiss to his neck and press his front warmly to Leon's back. On his left shoulder, Leon has scars from where the circuitry burned through his incomplete suit when he and Claire first piloted the Echo Assassin. Piers' mouth slows over those, tracing them with an odd sort of reverence.

Leon's eyes flutter closed and he shifts to get his suit off the rest of the way. 

While his mouth continues to move, Piers drags his hand down Leon's stomach. They both feel the shiver that works it way through Leon. He wraps his hand almost slowly around Leon's dick and begins to stroke him with purpose. Leon's breathing hitches, and Piers grinds his hips forward, sliding his own dick against Leon's ass. 

Leon lets himself drown in these sensations, the pleasure more keen than any he's felt in a long time. It's only when he's huffing back breaths and on the verge of coming that he stops Piers. He wants more than this. 

Leon twists so that he can kiss Piers again, near frantic this time. Piers moans into his mouth, and Leon gets them back down in the bed in a tangle of limbs. 

“You want to fuck me?” Leon asks, his smile maybe a little coy, because he knows the answer to that already. He lifts his hips up against Piers and grinds them together slowly. 

“Yes,” Piers practically pleads. 

“Get your lube then,” Leon instructs, biting at Piers' lower lip. Predictably, Piers blushes, as if he's been caught. But he quickly obeys, moving across his room to open a drawer. He tosses the bottle over to Leon who grins at him. He sets to work before Piers is even back in the bed, starting to spread himself open. 

At first, Piers just watches. But when Leon has two fingers inside of himself and is having a difficult time not grinding down into his own touch, Piers leans in to press one of his own fingers in alongside Leon's. His eyes burn Leon. The touch punches a sharp moan out of Leon. They finish stretching Leon open together, and Leon's so dangerously close to coming. Piers tugs on his rim a few times with a grin that is meant to be playful, and Leon knows that Piers will undo him in the future. 

“Now,” Leon gasps. He yanks his fingers – and Piers' – out of him. He pulls away before Piers can wind him up further, grabbing Piers' pillow to shove under his hips. He spreads his legs for Piers, offering himself. And Piers' gaze goes dark again, any notion of teasing dissolving right there and then. 

He crowds into Leon's space, kissing him hungrily and still working on finding his balance. He brackets his arm above Leon's head to steady himself, and Leon ghosts his fingertips across Piers' waist. They're practically pressed flush together. It will leave Piers with little angle for hard thrusts, but Leon doesn't care. 

He wraps his hand around Piers, steadying them both as he guides Piers inside of him. He watches, undeterred, at the shift in Piers' expression as Piers enters him for the first time. It's a moment he couldn't have handled if they hadn't already Drifted together. 

Leon traces Piers' face as they start to rock together, smoldering now. They move in easy synchronization. Maybe if Leon hadn't been so on edge, he could have done this for a while, but each drag of his cock against Piers' stomach is a near-perfect sensation. He leaks between them, his breathing going thready.

He cries out when he comes, somehow still surprised. Leon's orgasm rolls through him, heat flooding his entire body as he pushes up against Piers', grabbing onto him however he can. 

All of this is apparently enough to bring Piers over the edge as well. Piers gasps and then his hips stutter and he comes, warm, inside of Leon. 

He collapses down on top of Leon, panting lightly, and Leon wraps his arms around Piers, just holding him. They're quiet for a few moments, sharing a physical oneness. 

“Jaeger tomorrow,” Piers says finally, voice rough and breath warm on Leon's neck.

“Yeah,” Leon confirms.

“We'll get it right,” Piers says with determination. Leon smiles faintly, because he doesn't doubt it. 

Then, it's back into the fight.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the LLF Comment Project, which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:
> 
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